iPhone Wireless CarPlay fails to initialize after iOS 27 update

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Level 1

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iPhone Wireless CarPlay fails to initialize after iOS 27 update

Wireless CarPlay frequently fails to initialize after updating to iOS 27

My devices

iPhone 17
iOS 27
2025 Toyota Levin Hybrid (Chinese model)
Factory infotainment system
Wireless CarPlay

So, Wireless CarPlay was working reliably and connected quickly on iOS 26. Since updating to iOS 27, wireless CarPlay has become unreliable.

When I start the car, the iPhone connects to the car’s Bluetooth normally and also connects to the CarPlay Wi-Fi network (smartphone_connect_b4b76b), but CarPlay does not launch.

The car continues to appear under:

Settings → General → CarPlay → My Cars → “Car Multimedia”

When wireless CarPlay does successfully connect, it now takes noticeably longer to initialize than it did on iOS 26.

I discovered a reproducible workaround when wireless CarPlay fails:

Start the car and allow wireless to not work.
Connect the iPhone to the car using USB.
Wired CarPlay works immediately.
Disconnect the USB cable.
After disconnecting, “LEVIN” appears under Other Cars in the CarPlay settings.
Selecting “LEVIN” successfully establishes wireless CarPlay.
However, iOS treats this as a new CarPlay setup and my previously customized CarPlay settings are reset.

Afterward, Car Multimedia remains under My Cars; “LEVIN” does not remain as a second permanent vehicle.

However, the next time I turn off the system and turn it on again and it connects to the wireless CarPlay successfully, it shows up in dark mode (even though it’s set on automatic dark/light appearance). Then the next time I connect to my car it does not start CarPlay at all, going back to where I started. Also when tapping on “car multimedia” and toggling off CarPlay, the phone connects to the car via normal bluetooth connection.

I have already tried:

Forgetting the vehicle in CarPlay
Forgetting and re-pairing Bluetooth
Resetting network settings
Restarting the iPhone
Restarting the vehicle/head unit
Re-establishing the CarPlay connection from scratch (forgetting and repairing works)
Ruling out VPN interference

Thanks in advance.

iPhone 17

Posted on Sep 19, 2026 3:48 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

WheelieNick

Level 9

72,218 points

Oct 22, 2026 1:02 AM in response to Arian_xo

Hi there

Please try this to see if you can fix the issues

On your iPhone: Go to Settings → General → CarPlay, tap Car Multimedia (and LEVIN if present), and select Forget This Car.
Go to Settings → Bluetooth, find the Toyota head unit, and tap Forget This Device.
On your Toyota Levin infotainment screen: Navigate to Bluetooth / Device Connection Settings and delete your iPhone entirely from the car's memory.
Hard reboot the Toyota head unit: Hold down the physical power/volume knob of the infotainment system for 10–15 seconds until the screen completely goes black and the Toyota logo re-appears.
Turn the car completely off, open and close the driver door (to cut accessory power), wait 30 seconds, and turn the car back on.
Re-pair fresh by initiating the connection strictly through the car's onscreen CarPlay/Bluetooth prompt rather than preemptively pairing in iOS Bluetooth settings first.

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